Berry Boys Club.

1946 to present day.

By Nina Humphrey(née Burton)

Berry Boys Club was started in 1946 by Fred Nunn of Berry Lane and is now the longest established boxing/football club in the area.

A ‘Wild West’ event to promote ‘Boys Club Week” took place on Saturday 31st October 1959. A quote from the Times & Recorder:

“The Berry Boys Club ‘Wagon Train’ lurched into the darkest depths of Laindon on Saturday in aid of the National Association of Boys’ Clubs week. Prompt to the minute the wagon rolled to a halt near the Laindon Hotel, journeyed as far as the Winston Club and returned back down the High Road. Outriders dressed as Cowboys and Indians accompanied the wagon which was led by the “Marshall of Laindon”, Mr Fred Nunn”. Mingling with the crowd and carrying their collection boxes were members of the boys’ club and some of the attractive young ladies from the girls’ club. Young people from other parts of the district rode horses in front and behind the procession."

The Boxing Club had previously been based in various places in the area, including the Mission Hall in Langdon Hills, a building in Laindon High Road between the Post Office and Primrose Café, and from around 1969 a hall in Northumberland Road, Laindon.

Fred Nunn died in November 1961 aged just 56. A sad loss indeed, but the successful continuation of the club is a fitting tribute to a great man. Today the club is located in Valance Way, Langdon Hills.

My dad was a member of the Berry Boys boxing club, Fred Nunn was also his master when he worked at the docks.

By Michelle CollierOn 05/03/2017

I've just read on Facebook that 'Berry Boys Boxing Club' is closed as of today. Something to do with new rules and not many boys going. Sad news in the year of the club's 70th anniversary.

By Nina Humphrey(née Burton)On 14/09/2016

Does anybody remember my father Terry Gardner? I have his autograph book with the names of his club mates and the trainer Fred Nunn. late 1940's.

By Steve GardnerOn 14/06/2016

What became of Tony Soul? He was a member of the Berry Boys Club in the early sixties and became a really accomplished boxer. I haven't seen him since that time, come to think of it, I've only seen 4 maybe 5 of the people I knew at school since I left in 1962!

By Donald JoyOn 25/08/2015

I was a member of the Berry Boys when they were in Northumberland Avenue and then moved to the High Road, which must have been the mid fifties as I was still at school. All of us lads went to Boreham Airfield around 1958/1959 to demolish and take the asbestos from two or three Nissan huts to build the extension to the rear of the house in which we had the boxing ring and training area. I remember having to walk to Chelmsford to catch a bus as there was not any room for us lads on the back of the truck. Roy Young held the fare money and he persuade the conductor to let us go half fare. We spent the residue at the Radion cinema. There were the Venner bros, Georgie and Graham Sharp, Roy, myself and a few others. Happy Days :-} :-}

By Bill BanksOn 06/07/2015

Can anyone tell me when the first boxing club started in Laindon? My fathers brothers boxed for a club in Laindon around 1930, they were Samuel Roy Bedford and Norman Bedford. Samuel went on to box for the London police, Norman won a silver medal for boxing, but sadly died on a motorcycle in 1931.

By Jeffrey BedfordOn 06/07/2014

I joined Berry Boys boxing club in 1955 when it was in Berry Lane. It moved to a building in Laindon (High Road?). I remember an Olympic boxer calling in to give us some tips. I supplied Fred Nunn with a pair of white trousers that he wore to officiate in the ring. I cycled from Basildon.

By Michael FruinOn 05/07/2014

I was also a member of the Berry Boys, but didn't take up boxing. As for the 'Wagon' featured, I stood outside the post office, across from Laindon Hotel to watch it, and often wondered since, whether or not I had dreamt it. This article now confirms I didn't. Thank you.

I was a member of the Berry Boys boxing club and trained under Fred Nunn in a hall by the railway crossing in Northumberland Ave and also remember an adversary named Bob Crosby. We also attended the Laindon High Road School and continued our rivalry in the ring until 1950. Where are you now Bob?

By Len BoretOn 31/08/2013

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